


Midnight blue fingerprints

by HopeSilverheart



Series: Loving Em at 2AM [96]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: (just at the very end for a little bit of teasing), Banter, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Girls in Love, Implied Sexual Content, Introspection, Kissing, Love Letters, falling in love again and again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26781400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeSilverheart/pseuds/HopeSilverheart
Summary: Sometimes, JJ wondered if it had all been a dream. She wondered if she’d made up all that time she’d spent away from the person she loved most in the world, if she’d created those letters inside her mind, if she had lost a bit of her sanity when Emily had almost died. But then she’d look down at her lover’s hands and remind herself that it was real.“Just thinking about you,” she said, taking Emily’s ink-stained fingers in her hands and kissing them gently. “And how grateful I am to have someone like you in my life."Or: A short story of letters, ink-stained fingers, and two women in love.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Series: Loving Em at 2AM [96]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764400
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	Midnight blue fingerprints

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thatnerdemryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/gifts).



> Flufftober Prompt 2: Ink

It had started when Emily had still been in Paris.

JJ had tried to follow Hotch’s orders, she really had. She had flown to France and had expected to come back in tears, with no hope of ever seeing the woman she loved again. She hadn’t looked at the papers her boss had handed her, had barely even thought about it. She’d done everything right.

And then she’d laid eyes on Emily, and she’d forgotten everything her superiors had told her. Her lover had always been beautiful, even when she had still been recovering from her injuries, but seeing her in Paris… JJ’s breath had hitched, her heart had skipped a beat, and she’d decided right then and there that she would rather be punished for insubordination than have to go months – maybe years – without the other woman.

So, she’d begged Emily to contact her, and the brunette had complied. A week after her heart-breaking meeting with the woman she loved, she’d received a letter in the mail. It hadn’t been signed, but JJ was far from foolish.

Every single word had been carefully written out, sliding across the paper in beautiful strokes of dark blue ink, and JJ had almost broken down right then and there. Emily had always owned a piece of JJ’s heart – a _large_ piece of it, if the blonde was being perfectly honest – but that first letter had made it clear that JJ would never be getting it back.

In a few paragraphs, Emily had made JJ fall in love with her all over again, and she’d done it repeatedly for months. JJ had only sent a few letters back, too worried about her lover’s safety to risk anything more, but Emily had written to her once a week for the entirety of the time she’d spent in Europe.

Truthfully, JJ wasn’t sure she could have made it through that torturous time away from the BAU and the woman she loved if not for those letters. Emily had a talent for writing that JJ should have anticipated but _really_ hadn’t. The brunette had a way of putting feelings into words and making them seem so natural, so true, so perfect, and JJ had wondered – not for the first time – how on earth she had gotten lucky enough to score a woman as amazing as Emily Prentiss.

“What are you thinking about?”

JJ snapped out of her thoughts as the woman in question crouched down in front of the sofa and tilted her head to the side curiously. It had only been a month or so since Emily had come back, and JJ had barely left her side since her return. She’d asked the brunette to move in almost as soon as she’d landed in the States, and Emily had been quick to accept.

Sometimes, JJ wondered if it had all been a dream. She wondered if she’d made up all that time she’d spent away from the person she loved most in the world, if she’d created those letters inside her mind, if she had lost a bit of her sanity when Emily had almost died. But then she’d look down at her lover’s hands and remind herself that it was _real_.

“Just you,” she answered, taking Emily’s ink-stained fingers in her hands and kissing them gently. “And how grateful I am to have someone like you in my life. I can’t believe you’re still writing me those letters even now that we live together. You know you don’t have to do that, right?”

“But you love it,” Emily shrugged, as though that statement was enough to justify her actions. Maybe to her, it was. “Besides, there’s something soothing about writing things out and listening to what you have to say about them. You always have such wonderful things to say.”

“If by wonderful you mean inane and repetitive, then yes,” JJ snorted. “We do almost everything together, so I’m not sure what you gain from listening to me ramble about our days.”

“Insight into your brain,” Emily grinned, tapping one of her clean fingers against JJ’s bottom lip. “But more than anything, I just like listening to you talk. It helps me relax, helps me sleep, and it sounds like home.”

JJ would deny it until her dying breath, but Emily’s overly romantic overtures never failed to make her blush. She’d gotten used to the flowery vocabulary through letters, but she was still adjusting to how openly sappy Emily had become ever since she had come back to D.C.

“So you’re writing me letters as a way to get me talking. Smart move; pretending you’re doing something for me when you’re really just doing something for yourself,” JJ tutted. “Maybe I should stop reading them, just to see how you’d react. I wonder what other ways you could come up with that would get me talking.”

“Oh, Jen, I have a thousand different ways to get you to talk for me,” Emily smirked. “But if you really don’t want to read my letter of the week, that’s more than okay by me. As I said, there’s something therapeutic about the writing itself, so it really doesn’t mean that much to me whether you get it or not.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it,” JJ chuckled. “But for the record, I love your letters and will make you sleep on the couch if you dare keep them away from me.”

“Ooh, bringing out the real threats, huh?” Emily laughed, leaning in to kiss JJ and pouting when the blonde woman deftly avoided her grip. “Come on, don’t I deserve a kiss? It’s been hours since I last got to hold you.”

“If those hands get any closer to my white blouse, I won’t be held responsible for my retaliation,” JJ warned her girlfriend, dodging another one of Emily’s attempts and jumping off the couch only to burst into giggles as the brunette started chasing her around the apartment. “Seriously, you’ve got ink all over your hands! Emily, don’t even think about it!”

“You gotta be faster, beautiful,” Emily called out, grinning widely as she finally cornered JJ in their bedroom. “And think through your moves before you get yourself stuck between a wall and your ink-covered girlfriend.”

“This is one of my favourite-”

“I’ll buy you a new one,” Emily murmured right as she closed the distance between them, clenched JJ’s shirt tightly, and kissed her greedily.

JJ would have protested the loss of her blouse some more, but she was honestly a little preoccupied by the feeling of Emily’s lips on hers. It was a little ridiculous how easily Emily could make her weak in the knees even after two years of being together, but JJ figured that was just how true love worked.

“Besides, I think it suits you nicely,” Emily laughed as she pulled away from JJ, gesturing at her shirt. Purple-blue stains covered the material, yet JJ couldn’t even find the strength to glare at Emily. “Admit it, you love it.”

“I love _you_ ,” JJ corrected. “This ink, however, is much prettier when it’s on paper.”

“Oh, I don’t know, I tend to think that everything looks better on you,” Emily hummed thoughtfully. “You know, maybe you should take that shirt off so we can test my theory.”

“Your theory that ink would look nice on my skin? Sounds like a trap,” JJ raised her eyebrows, “and like a way for you to get me naked. Emily Prentiss, are you trying to get into my pants?”

“I would _never!_ ” Emily raised her hands to her chest exaggeratedly and JJ had to bite down on her bottom lip hard to stop herself from snorting. “However, standing there in a dirty shirt can’t be fun for you. How about I go get you a new one whilst you change out of this one, hmm?”

“Tempting,” JJ tapped her chin. “Very tempting, in fact, but I’m not sure I want to get rid of this one so soon. After all, it’s already dirty, which means there are quite a few things we could do with it before discarding it.”

“Oh?” Emily smiled sultrily. “Do tell, Jennifer.”

“Why don’t you come back here so I can tell you?” JJ challenged her, stepping back until she was pressed against the wall, her hands already rising up to undo the first button of her shirt.

“Your wish is my command,” Emily breathed out, hurrying back towards JJ and smiling as she kissed her again – and again, and _again_ , until they were both panting and laughing and scrambling to get to their bed.

That night, JJ came to two very important conclusions.

One, that Emily had been right; kissing her really _did_ feel like coming home.

Two, as beautiful as ink looked on paper or when it stained Emily’s fingers, nothing could compare to the sight of Emily splayed out underneath her, streaks of midnight blue fingerprints littering her body.

**Author's Note:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! As always, these little fics aren't edited or betaed, so excuse any mistakes. I've really been loving writing JJ and Emily, so I hope you guys have been enjoying reading them too! I'm sorry these fluff fics are all so short, but I'm trying not to burn myself out on writing this month! I was in a very domestic and in love mood tonight, hence how this happened.
> 
> Love, Junie.
> 
> (find me on [tumblr](https://hopesilverheart.tumblr.com/))


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